Michigan

Michigan

(mĭsh`ĭgən), upper midwestern state of the United States. It consists of two peninsulas thrusting into the Great LakesGreat Lakes,group of five freshwater lakes, central North America, creating a natural border between the United States and Canada and forming the largest body of freshwater in the world, with a combined surface area of c.95,000 sq mi (246,050 sq km)......Click the link for more information. and has borders with Ohio and Indiana (S), Wisconsin (W), and the Canadian province of Ontario (N,E).

Geography

The Lower Peninsula, shaped like a mitten, is separated from Ontario, Canada, on the east by Lake Erie and Lake Huron, and by the Detroit River and the St. Clair River, which together link these two Great Lakes. It is bordered by Lake Michigan on the west, across which lies Wisconsin. The Upper Peninsula lies northeast of Wisconsin between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, and is separated from Ontario by the narrow St. Marys River.

The Upper Peninsula. known as the U.P. (its residents call themselves Yoopers), is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac; a bridge connecting the two peninsulas was opened in 1957 and has spurred the development of the Upper Peninsula. The eastern portion of the Upper Peninsula has swampy flats and limestone hills on the Lake Michigan shore, while sandstone ridges rise abruptly from the rough waters of Lake Superior; in the west the land rises to forested mountains, still rich in copper and iron.

The northern Michigan wilds, numerous inland lakes, and some 3,000 mi (4,800 km) of shoreline, combined with a pleasantly cool summer climate, have long attracted vacationers. In the winter Michigan's snow-covered hills bring skiers from all over the Midwest. Places of interest in the state include Greenfield Village, a re-creation of a 19th-century American village, and the Henry Ford Museum, both at DearbornDearborn,city (1990 pop. 89,286), Wayne co., SE Mich., on the River Rouge, adjoining Detroit; settled 1795, consolidated with the city of Fordson in 1928, inc. as a city 1929......Click the link for more information.; Pictured Rocks and Sleeping Bear Dunes national lakeshores; and Isle Royal National Park.

LansingLansing.1 Village (1990 pop. 28,086), Cook co., NE Ill., a suburb of Chicago, near the Ind. line; inc. 1893. Among the city's industries are meatpacking, food processing, and the manufacture of metal products. 2 City (1990 pop......Click the link for more information. is the capital, and DetroitDetroit, city (1990 pop. 1,027,974), seat of Wayne co., SE Mich., on the Detroit River and between lakes St. Clair and Erie; inc. as a city 1815. Michigan's largest city and the tenth largest in the nation, Detroit is a major Great Lakes shipping and rail center......Click the link for more information. is the largest city. Other major cities are Grand RapidsGrand Rapids,city (1990 pop. 189,126), seat of Kent co., SW central Mich., on the Grand River; inc. 1850. The second largest city in the state, it is a distribution, wholesale, and industrial center for an area that yields fruit, dairy products, farm produce, gypsum, and gravel......Click the link for more information., Sterling HeightsSterling Heights,city (1990 pop. 117,810), Macomb co., SE Mich., on the Clinton River; platted 1835 as Jefferson Township, renamed 1838, inc. 1968. Largely rural until the mid-20th cent., the city grew as a suburb of Detroit, 19 mi (31 km) to the northeast......Click the link for more information., WarrenWarren.1 City (1990 pop. 144,864), Macomb co., SE Mich., a suburb of Detroit; est. 1837, inc. as a city 1957. It is an important metalworking center where steel is processed......Click the link for more information., FlintFlint,city (1990 pop. 140,761), seat of Genesee co., SE Mich., on the Flint River; inc. 1855. Since 1902 it has been an automobile-manufacturing centers. The General Motors Corp......Click the link for more information., and Ann ArborAnn Arbor,city (1990 pop. 109,592), seat of Washtenaw co., S Mich., on the Huron River; inc. 1851. It is a research and educational center, with a large number of government and industrial research and development firms, many in high-technology fields such as aerospace and.....Click the link for more information..

Economy

The Upper Peninsula is northern woods country, with what has been described as "ten months of winter and two months of poor sledding." The abundance of furred animals and forests early attracted fur traders and lumberjacks. Animals were trapped out, virgin forests were stripped, and, in addition, pure copper and high-grade iron ore were rapidly wrested from the earth, so that virtually all of the Upper Peninsula's mines have been closed. Deer, bear, and other game in the forests, as well as abundant fish in streams and lakes, keep the area a rich hunting and fishing ground. Selective cutting and replanting of trees are now employed in the second-growth forests.

The Lower Peninsula is less wild, but in parts no less beautiful, than the Upper. Its forests were also cut over in the lumber boom of the late 19th cent., when Michigan was briefly the world leader in lumber production. The soil of these cut-over lands, unlike the productive earth in other areas of the Lower Peninsula, proved generally unsuitable for agriculture, and reforestation has been undertaken.

The Lower Peninsula has its own mineral riches, including gypsum, sandstone, limestone, salt, cement, sand, and gravel, but its great wealth lies in the many farms and factories. The surrounding waters temper the climate, providing a long growing season. Fields of grain and corn cover much of the southern counties, and Michigan's noted fruit belt lines the shore of Lake Michigan (the state leads the nation in the production of cherries). Dairying is the most lucrative farm business. Corn is the chief crop, followed by greenhouse products, soybeans, apples, carrots, celery, cucumbers, and other vegetables.

Manufacturing accounts for 30% of Michigan's economic production, more than twice as much as any other sector. The manufacture of automobiles and transportation equipment is by far the state's chief industry, and Detroit, Dearborn, Flint, Pontiac, and Lansing are historic centers of automobile production, although the industry is now in dramatic decline throughout the state. The automobile industry's mass-production methods, developed here, were the core of the early-20th-century industrial revolution. Other Michigan manufactures include nonelectrical machinery, fabricated metal products, primary metals, chemicals, and food products. Among Michigan's most important industrial centers are SaginawSaginaw, city (1990 pop. 69,512), seat of Saginaw co., S Mich., on the Saginaw River, 15 mi (24 km) from its mouth on Saginaw Bay (an inlet of Lake Huron); settled 1816, inc. 1857. Situated in an extensive agricultural area, Saginaw is also a port of entry......Click the link for more information., Bay CityBay City.1 City (1990 pop. 38,936), seat of Bay co., S Mich., a port of entry on the Saginaw River at its mouth on Saginaw Bay (an inlet of Lake Huron); inc. 1859 with the consolidation of several settlements along the river......Click the link for more information., MuskegonMuskegon, city (1990 pop. 40,283), seat of Muskegon co., W Mich., on Lake Michigan; inc. as a city 1869. A port of entry, the city is a car-ferry terminus and a shipping point for a farm, fruit, and industrial region......Click the link for more information., and JacksonJackson.1 City (1990 pop. 37,446), seat of Jackson co., S Mich., on the Grand River; inc. 1857. It is an industrial and commercial center in a farm region. The city's chief manufactures are machinery, aerospace components, transportation and electronic equipment, food,.....Click the link for more information.. The chemical industry in MidlandMidland.1 City (1990 pop. 38,053), seat of Midland co., central Mich., in the Saginaw valley at the confluence of the Tittabawassee and Chippewa rivers; inc. 1887. Midland owes its development after 1890 to the Dow Chemical Company, whose corporate headquarters is there......Click the link for more information. is one of the nation's largest; KalamazooKalamazoo, city (1990 pop. 80,277), seat of Kalamazoo co., SW Mich., on the Kalamazoo River at its confluence with Portage Creek; inc. 1883. It is an industrial and commercial center in a fertile farm area that produces celery, peppermint, and fruit......Click the link for more information. is an important paper-manufacturing and pharmaceuticals center; Grand Rapids is noted for its furniture, and Battle CreekBattle Creek,city (1990 pop. 53,540), Calhoun co., S Mich., at the confluence of the Kalamazoo and Battle Creek rivers; settled 1831, inc. as a city 1859. It is an agricultural trade center known for its cereals......Click the link for more information. for its breakfast foods.

Although mining contributes less to income in the state than either agriculture or manufacturing, Michigan still has important nonfuel mineral production, chiefly of iron ore, cement, sand, and gravel, and is a leading producer of peat, bromine, calcium-magnesium chloride, gypsum, and magnesium compounds. Abundant natural beauty and excellent fishing help to make tourism a major Michigan industry. Michigan's historic lack of manufacturing diversity has made it particularly susceptible to the fluctuations of the national economy, and in recent years it has tried to diversify, attracting high-technology industry and developing the service sector.

Government and Higher Education

Michigan's constitution, adopted in 1963, provides for a governor serving a term of four years, who may be reelected. The state legislature is made up of a senate with 38 members and a house of representatives with 110 members. Michigan sends 14 representatives and 2 senators to the U.S. Congress and has 16 electoral votes in presidential elections. John Engler, a Republican, was elected governor in 1990 and reelected in 1994 and 1998. In 2002, a Democrat, Jennifer Granholm, was elected to succeed him; she was reelected in 2006. Republican Rick Snyder was elected to the office in 2010 and reelected in 2014; Democrat Gretchen Whitmer was elected in 2018.

Institutions of higher education include the Univ. of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint; Michigan State Univ., at East Lansing; the Univ. of Detroit Mercy and Wayne State Univ., at Detroit; Western Michigan Univ. and Kalamazoo College, at Kalamazoo; Eastern Michigan Univ., at Ypsilanti; Northern Michigan Univ., at Marquette; Central Michigan Univ., at Mt. Pleasant; and many other private and state colleges.

History

Native Americans and French Explorers

The OjibwaOjibwaor Chippewa, group of Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages)......Click the link for more information., the OttawaOttawaor Odawa, Native Americans whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages)......Click the link for more information., the PotawatomiPotawatomi, Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Algonquian branch of the Algonquian-Wakashan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). They are closely related to the Ojibwa and Ottawa; their traditions state that all three were originally one people......Click the link for more information., and other Algonquian-speaking Native American groups were living in Michigan when the French explorer Étienne Brulé landed at the narrows of Sault Ste. Marie in 1618, probably the first European to have reached present Michigan. Later French explorers, traders, and missionaries came, including Jean Nicolet, who was searching for the Northwest Passage; Jacques Marquette, who founded a mission in the Mackinac region; and the empire builder, Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, who came on the Griffon, the first ship to sail the Great Lakes. French posts were scattered along the lakes and the rivers, and Mackinac Island (in the Straits of Mackinac) became a center of the fur trade. Fort Pontchartrain, later Detroit, was founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. The vast region was weakly held by France until lost to Great Britain in the last conflict (1754–63) of the French and Indian WarsFrench and Indian Wars,1689–1763, the name given by American historians to the North American colonial wars between Great Britain and France in the late 17th and the 18th cent......Click the link for more information..

Resistance to British Occupation

The Native Americans of Michigan, who had lived in peace with the French, resented the coming of the British, who were the allies of the much-hated Iroquois tribes. Under Pontiac they revolted (see Pontiac's RebellionPontiac's Rebellion,Pontiac's Conspiracy,or Pontiac's War,1763–66, Native American uprising against the British just after the close of the French and Indian Wars, so called after one of its leaders, Pontiac......Click the link for more information.) against the British occupation. The rebellion, which began in 1763, was short-lived, ending in 1766, and the Native Americans subsequently supported the British during the American Revolution. Native American resistance to U.S. control was effectively ended at the Battle of Fallen TimbersFallen Timbers,battle fought in 1794 between tribes of the Northwest Territory and the U.S. army commanded by Anthony Wayne; it took place in NW Ohio at the rapids of the Maumee River just southwest of present-day Toledo......Click the link for more information. in 1794 with the victory of Gen. Anthony Wayne. Despite provisions of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolution (1783; see Paris, Treaty ofParis, Treaty of,any of several important treaties, signed at or near Paris, France. The Treaty of 1763

The Treaty of Paris of Feb. 10, 1763, was signed by Great Britain, France, and Spain......Click the link for more information.), the British held stubbornly to Detroit and Mackinac until 1796.

After passage of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, Michigan became part of the Northwest TerritoryNorthwest Territory,first possession of the United States, comprising the region known as the Old Northwest, S and W of the Great Lakes, NW of the Ohio River, and E of the Mississippi River, including the present states of Ohio, Ind., Ill., Mich., Wis., and part of Minn......Click the link for more information.. However, even after the Northwest Territory was broken up and Detroit was made (1805) capital of Michigan Territory, British agents still maintained great influence over the Native Americans, who fought on the British side in the War of 1812. In that war Mackinac and Detroit fell almost immediately to the British as a result of the ineffective control of U.S. Gen. William Hull and his troops. Michigan remained in British hands through most of the war until Gen. William Henry HarrisonHarrison, William Henry,1773–1841, 9th President of the United States (Mar. 4–Apr. 4, 1841), b. "Berkeley," Charles City co., Va.; son of Benjamin Harrison (1726?–1791) and grandfather of Benjamin Harrison (1833–1901)......Click the link for more information. in the battle of Thames and Oliver Hazard Perry in the battle of Lake Erie restored U.S. control.

Settlement and Statehood

After peace came, pioneers moved into Michigan. The policy of pushing Native Americans westward and opening the lands for settlement was largely due to the efforts of Gen. Lewis Cass, who was governor of Michigan Territory (1813–31) and later a U.S. Senator. Steamboat navigation on the Great Lakes and sale of public lands in Detroit both began in 1818, and the Erie Canal was opened in 1825. Farmers came to the Michigan fields, and the first sawmills were built along the rivers.

The move toward statehood was slowed by the desire of Ohio and Indiana to absorb parts of present S Michigan, and by the opposition of southern states to the admission of another free state. The Michigan electorate organized a government without U.S. sanction and in 1836 operated as a state, although outside the Union. To resolve the boundary dispute Congress proposed that the Toledo strip be ceded to Ohio and Indiana with compensation to Michigan of land in the Upper Peninsula. Though the Michigan electorate rejected the offer, a group of Democratic leaders accepted it, and by their acceptance Michigan became a state in 1837. (The admission of Arkansas as a slaveholding state offset that of Michigan as a free state.) Detroit served as the capital until 1847, when it was replaced by Lansing.

After statehood, Michigan promptly adopted a program of internal improvement through the building of railroads, roads, and canals, including the Soo Locks Ship Canal at Sault Ste. Marie. At the same time lumbering was expanding, and the population grew as German, Irish, and Dutch immigrants arrived. In 1854 the Republican party was organized at Jackson, Mich. During the Civil War, Michigan fought on the side of the Union, contributing 90,000 troops to the cause.

Reform Movements

After the war the state remained firmly Republican until 1882. Then Michigan farmers, moved by the same financial difficulties and outrage at high transportation and storage rates that aroused other Western farmers, supported movements advocating agrarian interests, such as the Granger movementGranger movement,American agrarian movement taking its name from the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, an organization founded in 1867 by Oliver H. Kelley and six associates. Its local units were called granges and its members grangers......Click the link for more information. and the Greenback partyGreenback party,in U.S. history, political organization formed in the years 1874–76 to promote currency expansion. The members were principally farmers of the West and the South; stricken by the Panic of 1873, they saw salvation in an inflated currency that would wipe out.....Click the link for more information.. The farmers joined with the growing numbers of workers in the mines and lumber camps to elect a Greenback-Democratic governor in 1882 and succeeded in getting legislation passed for agrarian improvement and public welfare.

Reforms influenced by the labor movement were the creation of a state board of labor (1883), a law enforcing a 10-hr day (1885), and a moderate child-labor law (1887). The lumbering business, with its yield of wealth to the timber barons, declined to virtual inactivity. Some of the loggers joined the ranks of industrial workers, which were further swelled by many Polish and Norwegian immigrants.

Assembly Lines and Labor Strife

With the invention of the automobile and the construction of automotive plants, industry in Michigan was altered radically. Henry Ford established the Ford Motor Company in 1903 and introduced conveyor-belt assembly lines in 1918. General Motors and the Chrysler Corporation were established shortly after Ford. Along with the development of mass-production methods came the growth of the labor movement. In the 1930s, when the automobile industry was well established in the state, labor unions struggled for recognition. The conflict between labor and the automotive industry, which continued into the 1940s, included sit-down strikes and was sometimes violent. Walter ReutherReuther, Walter Philip, 1907–70, American labor leader, b. Wheeling, W.Va. A tool- and diemaker, he became shop foreman in a Detroit automobile plant, meanwhile completing his high school work and attending college......Click the link for more information., a pioneer of the labor movement, was elected president of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) in 1946.

In World War II Michigan produced large numbers of tanks, airplanes, and other war matériel. Industrial production again expanded after the Korean War broke out in 1950, and the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959 increased export trade by bringing many oceangoing vessels to the port of Detroit. In the early 1960s, however, economic growth lagged and unemployment became a problem in the state.

Racial Tensions and Recession

Detroit was shaken by severe race riots in 1967 that left 43 persons dead and many injured, in addition to causing $200 million in damage. In the wake of the rioting, programs were undertaken to improve housing facilities and job opportunities in the city, but these failed as the city suffered massive outmigration. While Detroit deteriorated, the suburbs experienced dramatic growth, spreading throughout SE Michigan. Resistance to busing was a major political issue in the state in the early 1970s.

The state's dependence on the auto industry was exhibited during the recession of the early 1980s, when car sales slumped, many factories were closed and Michigan's unemployment rate at over 15% was the nation's highest. The federal government helped bail out the Chrysler Corporation in 1979, authorizing $1.5 billion in loan guarantees. After a brief period of recovery through limited diversification of the state economy, Michigan was again especially hard hit by national recession and continuing foreign competition in the early 1990s, and it continued to suffer large, mainly auto-related manufacturing job losses over the next two decades. The financial difficulties arising in large part from the effects of those job losses led Detroit to file for municipal bankruptcy in 2013.

Michigan

a state in the northern USA, near the Great Lakes; it borders on Canada. Area, 150,800 sq km; population, 8.9 million (1970), including an urban population of 73.8 percent. Its capital is the city of Lansing; the largest city and principal economic center is the port of Detroit.

Michigan consists of two peninsulas—the Lower Peninsula between lakes Huron and Michigan, where more than 95 percent of the state’s population is concentrated; and the Upper Peninsula between lakes Michigan and Superior, covered with coniferous forests and very sparsely populated. The surface is primarily a gently rolling plain; the northwestern section has mountain massifs with elevations reaching 604 m. Its climate is moderate, with colder winters in the Upper Peninsula.

Michigan is one of the leading industrial states in the USA. It ranks sixth in the USA in the number of persons employed in manufacturing (6 percent of all US employees); manufacturing enterprises employ 1.1 million persons (of whom more than half are in Detroit), or 35 percent of the work force in Michigan (1970). Approximately three-fourths of the industrial workers are employed in metallurgy, machine building, and metalworking. The most important branch is the automotive industry, with as many as 400,000 employees. Located in Detroit and its suburbs (Dearborn and elsewhere), as well as in Flint, Lansing, and other cities, are the administrative offices, laboratories, and most important plants of the automobile monopolies—General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Linked with the automobile industry is the production of special steels and sheet metal, the casting and processing of ferrous and nonferrous metals, and the production of machine tools, instruments, electrical equipment, paints and varnishes, and rubber. Industries also developed in Michigan are the defense industry and chemicals (Detroit and Midland), silicates and ceramics, food processing, lumbering and wood processing, furniture (Grand Rapids), and paper (Kalamazoo). There is mining, basically of iron ores (about 15 million tons annually), copper ores, and table salt. The rated capacity of electric power plants totals 13.2 gigawatts (1972).

Agriculture consists primarily of dairy farming and vegetable growing. Also cultivated are fruits, grapes (principally along the shores of Lake Michigan), sugar beets, and hay. The products of livestock raising account for approximately 55 percent of the value of commercial agricultural output. In 1972 there were 1.5 million head of cattle, including 500,000 milch cows and heifers, as well as 800,000 pigs. Shipping on the Great Lakes, through connecting waterways, amounts to more than 100 million tons of cargo annually. Lakes Michigan and Superior are tourist regions.

V. M. GOKHMAN

Michigan

a lake in North America in the USA, in the Great Lakes system. It is located at an elevation of 177 m. Area, 58,000 sq km. Maximum depth, 281 m. Linked with Lake Huron by the short Straits of Mackinac, with a width of approximately 3 km.

The shores of Lake Michigan are hilly and weakly dissected and are bordered by terraces; on the south and southeast shores there are dunes (usually 10–20 m high). Tides are semidiurnal, with a height of up to 4 cm. The northern section of the lake freezes. The average length of time the lake is open to navigation is approximately 250 days. Up to the 1950’s salmon, lampreys, whitefish, sturgeon, and pike abounded in Lake Michigan; as a result of catastrophic pollution in the lake, many species of living organisms (for example, salmon) have disappeared. Water vegetation has become widespread. The lake is linked with the Mississippi River system by the navigable Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The lake’s large ports and industrial centers are Chicago and Milwaukee.

Michigan

Twenty-sixth state; admitted on January 26, 1837

The anniversary of Michigan’s statehood was previously observed as Michigan Day, but is no longer a holiday.

State capital: Lansing

Nicknames: The Great Lakes State; The Wolverine State; Winter Wonderland; the Upper Peninsula is often referred to as the Land of Hiawatha

2.Lake. a lake in the N central US between Wisconsin and Michigan: the third largest of the five Great Lakes and the only one wholly in the US; linked with Lake Huron by the Straits of Mackinac. Area: 58 000 sq. km (22 400 sq. miles)

University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman says she plans to take up the legal fight against the law's passage and will press the courts to allow the school to continue using its diversity-focused admissions program.

Three of those came on one Michigan possession in the second quarter, when Cushing and defensive tackle Fili Moala ganged up, cornerback Terrell Thomas ran down the quarterback and Ellis got in the act.

The MEAP tests have been developed with great care and are far superior to the ACT, yet, despite the existence of the scholarship program, the ACT continues to carry much higher stakes for Michigan students because it is the primary admissions test used by Michigan's colleges.

Even though I do not think that it is accurate to understand hunting by twentieth century Michigan autoworkers as a form of resistance, the literature on workers' resistance to state hegemony does prove helpful.

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